ARLINGTON, Texas — Jamal Ali is pleading for the public's help again finding his cousin's killer. He and his family joined Arlington police Friday afternoon to ask people to come forward if they can help with the investigation.
"The family, we're still shocked, the kids are," said Ali, "It's a nightmare."
A suspected car burglar shot and killed Ali Ismail on Feb. 14 after he arrived home from work around 5 a.m.
Arlington police say they believe one of the people seen in the video they released is the gunman. The shooting happened as his family slept inside their Prentice Street home.
"They have six kids and a seventh one on the way," said Ali.
Ismail, 36, owned and operated his own trucking company. His family explained they are still trying to wrap their minds around what happened, especially since he was so active in his children's lives. Ismail spent a lot of time attending his children's school by being in the classroom with them.
During their investigation, police uncovered other surveillance video that shows a person checking for unlocked doors on vehicles hours earlier the same morning.
It's unclear if the two are related since the other incident happened about 2.5 miles from Ismail's neighborhood. But investigators consider the person caught on camera in the other video a person of interest.
The renewed call for help in the case from Ismail's family and the police comes after investigators have exhausted all solid leads in the case. They are still urging people in the vicinity of the 1400 block of Prentice Street in Arlington to check video from their home security cameras. It's possible that the same suspects and person of interest have been recorded on other devices. Arlington detectives are specifically urging people to scan their video systems from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Feb. 14.
Ismail's family explained that bringing his killer to justice won't give them complete closure, however, it will help them begin the healing process from such a tragic loss.
"Just share with us any information that you have to bring closure to this situation. This could be your son. This could be your father. This could be your husband, a nephew, a relative of yours," said Ali.
During the renewed call for help in the Ali Ismail case, Arlington Police Department Assistant Police Chief Tarrick McGuire announced a huge reward in the case. While they would love for people with information to reach out directly to Detective Hall at 817-459-5325, anyone who wants to remain anonymous can do so by calling Crime Stoppers at 817-469-TIPS (8477). Either way, if your information leads to an arrest and conviction in the case, it will result in a huge reward.
"Our community partners, Oak Farms Dairy, is offering a $10,000 reward for the information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person that has been involved in this case," said McGuire.
The huge reward is another reason Ismail's family hopes someone will come forward with the one clue the police need to bring his killer to justice.